Detroit Free Press Staff Writers

'Kilpatrick Enterprise' trial coverage

Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, his father, Bernard Kilpatrick, and his longtime contractor friend Bobby Ferguson were convicted in U.S. District Court in Detroit. They were accused in a conspiracy to enrich themselves by rigging City of Detroit contracts through the mayor's office. Kwame Kilpatrick was convicted on 24 of 30 counts, Ferguson was found guilty on nine of 11 counts and Bernard Kilpatrick was convicted on one of four counts. A fourth defendant, former water department director Victor Mercado, pleaded guilty to conspiracy during the trial and awaits sentencing.

Kwame Kilpatrick had it all — a free mansion, bodyguards and staff to answer his every beck and call — “but that wasn’t enough.”

That’s what a federal prosecutor told jurors during closing arguments in Detroit’s historic public corruption trial this morning. Kilpatrick’s greed, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Bullotta argued, became more important than the citizens of Detroit, and Kilpatrick unlawfully used the mayor’s office to enrich himself, his family and his friends.

"He turned the mayor’s office into Kilpatrick Incorporated," Bullotta argued, repeatedly stressing that four words summed up how Kilpatrick, his father and his contractor friend got rich: “No deal without me.”

"That was their mantra. Those were their words. That was their scheme," Bullotta said of the defendants: Kilpatrick, his father Bernard Kilpatrick and his longtime contractor friend Bobby Ferguson.

Bullotta, who spent nearly two hours summing up the government’s massive case, hammered away at a constant theme during his closing: Kilpatrick steered work to Ferguson by fostering a climate of fear in the contracting community, forcing firms to include his pal in on deals or risk losing work. And it worked, he said, arguing that Ferguson made $84 million off crooked contracts while his pal was mayor.

In turn, Bullotta said, Ferguson shared his spoils with Kilpatrick. And Bernard Kilpatrick benefited along the way, too, he said, by using his son’s position to extort wealthy businessmen who needed his connections to win contracts.

Bullotta also stressed that all three men were members of what the government dubbed the Kilpatrick Enterprise. They were all in cahoots to make money off contracts, especially those in the water department, and held secret meetings over the years, plotting on how they could get Ferguson in on deals. he said.

All three, Bullotta argued, used the mayor's office to get rich:

• Ferguson used his ties to the ex-mayor to get contracts.

• Kilpatrick meddled in the contracting process to make sure Ferguson got the jobs.

• Bernard Kilpatrick used his son's name to extort businessmen who wanted contracts.

“Ask yourselves this. If Kwame Kilpatrick was not part of a conspiracy with Bobby Ferguson and Bernard Kilpatrick, could they have ever extorted a single person without the power of the mayor’s office? No,” Bullotta said, at times pounding his fist on the lectern and raising his voice.

Bullotta said Kilpatrick turned his back on Detroiters by catering to his own needs.

“He took an oath and he shattered that oath,” Bullotta said. “The simple truth is that Kwame Kilpatrick wanted to help himself more than (Detroiters).”

"How did he think he could get away with it? He thought that rules do not apply to him."

Bullotta asked the jury to teach Kilpatrick a lesson, and send a message that public corruption will not and should not be tolerated.

"You can confirm that nobody, least of all a public official, is above the law," Bullotta said. "Do the only thing that’s justified based on their action. Find them guilty of every single count in this indictment. Thank you."